This concept image shows an astronaut preparing to take samples from the captured asteroid after it has been relocated to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system. Hundreds of rings are affixed to the asteroid capture bag, helping the astronaut carefully navigate the surface. Image Credit: NASA

NASA has rescheduled its Asteroid Synthesis Workshop, a public forum to examine and synthesize 96 of the ideas submitted to a Request for Information (RFI) about the agency's asteroid initiative. The workshop will be held Nov. 20 - 22 at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, and is a continuation of the workshop originally scheduled for Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, which was ended early because of the government shutdown.

The workshop will feature discussions by experts from NASA, the agency's international partners, private industry and the public. Topics include how best to identify, capture and relocate a near-Earth asteroid for closer study, how to respond to asteroid threats, as well as partnership, crowdsourcing and citizen science ideas. Workshop results will be considered for future planning as NASA refines the details of its mission.

NASA's fiscal year 2014 budget proposes an asteroid initiative that includes a strategy to leverage human and robotic activities for a first-ever human mission to an asteroid, while also accelerating efforts to improve detection and characterization of asteroids. The work aligns the agency's ongoing efforts in science, new technology development and human exploration.

NASA received more than 400 ideas in response to the June RFI. The ideas were submitted by industry, universities, international organizations, and for the first time, individual members of the public. NASA's selection process involved agency scientists, engineers and mission planners who are formulating details of the asteroid initiative.

Each session will be webcast on NASA's UStream channel, and virtual participation is encouraged. Because of limited capacity, in person attendance is limited to invited, registered presenters. Selected sessions also will be broadcast on NASA Television. Virtual audience members can ask questions through the UStream chat function and via Twitter with session-specific hashtags. Complete schedule information, live webcasts, hashtags, and other details on how to participate virtually can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/asteroidworkshop

Media interested in attending the workshop in person should contact Rachel Kraft at rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov or Sarah Ramsey at sarah.ramsey@nasa.gov.